A Little Boy Called Dale
by anime fearie
Summary: Very slight Reno/Tseng yaoi warning.Reno is still new to the Turks.But by this time he'd thought he'd seen just about everything in Midgar.He is about to find out that is not true and just how nasty things can really get.
1. Default Chapter

A Little Boy Called Dale.

by Anime Fearie

**RATING:** M – MOSTLY FOR LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE.

**WARNINGS:** CONTAINS MILD YAOI, BAD LANGUAGE (M/M RELATIONSHIPS JUST IN CASE YOU WERE NAPPING WHEN YOU CLICKED ON THIS STORY.) AND RAPE. IF ANY OF THESE THINGS OFFENDS YOU (OF COURSE THE RAPE WOULD (HOPEFULLY) BUT IT WAS DONE FOR SHOCK VALUE NOT ANY INTENSE DESIRE TO WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THAT TRUST ME) YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T READ ANY FURTHER.

**DISCLAIMER: **MOST OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS FIC ARE PROPERTY OF SQUARESOFT (DON'T BEND, CHEW OR LEAVE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT). DALE AND THE REST OF THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS ARE MINE. POEMS GIVEN TO ME BY A LOVELY PERSON, BELONG TO COLIN THIELE , POET AND NAMESAKE OF MY LITTLE DALE.

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: (Warning: Author's Notes contain /some/ spoilers for other AF series namely "The Monsters That Keep Me Awake". If you have not read till at least CHAPTER SIX of the SECOND part of the series, I advise either reading these first notes with caution or skipping them entirely. If you haven't read ANY of the series, you may not get what I am doing, but you NEEDN'T have read that series to understand and this warning doesn't apply to you.) **_So this can be a stand alone, or this can be read exactly how I intended, a side story to "The Monsters That Keep Me Awake." If you are reading it after reading some of that series either during "Would You Scare Me Again?", "I Will Be The One" or the fabled third part that shouldn't be out by this point "What You Do To Me" and are wondering where this slots in. Don't. It doesn't. This is a backstory. During the second part 'Will Be' Reno goes on a little bender and I have taken pains for readers to realize that this was not something that happened just in the space of such a small amount of time. That his 'sickness' was not only a result of what happened between him and Reeve or even what happened to Tariff, but a lot of things that have happened to him in the past. The Tariff thing coupled with the Reeve thing are merely catalysts for something that had already begun to happen. Well, I thought I'd write one of the more major things that happened to poor Reno to make him break just that little bit more. (As if killing one of your own crew weren't bad enough!) Please review and enjoy….as much as you can._

* * *

_Why can we sometimes_

_See pearls on the mallee,_

_Find stars in a beach- pool,_

_Bowl the moon down a valley;_

_Fly high with the wedgetail,_

_Touch the sky like glass,_

_Hear the small roots stretching_

_Under the grass;_

_Sense the secrets of earth_

_That beckon and teem?_

_It's because we are human_

_And it's human to dream_

* * *

The gun felt like a feather in his hand, like he was hardly holding it at all. His whole body was wired, tingling with the anticipation of the kill. Even the rain that sluiced off his lean body, clear water that ran pink after one touch of his skin of his bare torso, wasn't even registering in his clouded, hate filled mind. The rain washed the blood from his body, blood that was mostly not his own, but he didn't notice. To him he could still feel the sticky red liquid cover him, his chest, his hands, his face. Everywhere. It was as if somehow that it meant /he/ was still with him. That way, /he/ would know what he had done for him. To avenge /him/. To let /him/ know that at least one person had cared about an otherwise insignificant part of the Midgar populous.

He knew what it was like to be one of the insignificant masses. A person that the rich folks up on the plate wouldn't spit on if he were on fire. Who wouldn't even pause walking if he were laying on the sidewalk covered in blood. Or maybe they would pause….perhaps only because he were clogging up the sidewalk.

_Is that how it was Tseng? Was I clogging up the sidewalk where you were walking? Is /that/ why you paused and offered me a hand? If you had simply passed me in the street I doubt I would have gotten a second look. But I meddled in your business, so it was either take me in or shoot me through the head. If you were a better man Tseng you would have taken out your gun and told me to kiss my ass goodbye. You can't save me from the experiences I've had, no matter how far your hand reaches. And I can't save myself, no matter how much a bleed. Until of course, I've bled my last drop._

_There is only one way to find out…._

He paused momentarily at the mouth of the alley and leant against the cool stone wall next to him, letting the chill soak through his body. An attempt to ease his mind. He couldn't think properly, he couldn't breath properly. His eyes kept wandering back to that spot, now clouded in the darkest shadows of the night. The spot where /he/ lay. He couldn't feel remorse for /him/ or himself. Not yet. Later, when the blood that covers my body will not only be /his/. When those fucks had paid for what they had done. Then he would allow himself the guilt. The knowledge that, yet again, he had failed.

_I won't fail this time. I won't let them get away with this!_

None too gently he smacked his head against the cold stone he was leaning against. The pain helped. The warm trickle down his neck helped. It bought with it that small amount of reasoning he knew he would need, but again not too much to tell him what he was planning to do was not the smartest choice. He didn't need that reasoning. He needed to think, to plot, but to keep the anger there. It would serve him when he cut out their hearts and nailed them to their own fucking coffee tables…

Again he smacked his head, again he felt the pain.

He was ready.

With one last, brief look down the alleyway, he stepped out into the street and back under the silver glow of the streetlamps, intent on his first destination.

While he walked, he remembered. He needed to keep the memories in his head. He needed to feed that anger. After all, for some, this was going to be a very long night.

* * *

Two Weeks Previously…

"I better be going."

Reno watched the back of his superior as he sat up on the bed, his back to the other man lying next to him. Reno had to stop himself from reaching out and running his hand over the smooth tanned skin or through the soft black hair that tumbled neatly down the center off his back, undisturbed by anything strenuous the pair had been engaged in not two minutes prior.

"It wouldn't kill you to spend the night here ya know. There's no reason you have to trek back to your place two sectors over."

"I have things I must do." He replied shortly.

"Ah of course." Reno replied sarcastically, rolling from the bed and standing. "These elusive /things/ you always must do. Well give these /things/ my regards. I'll see you at work."

With that Reno waltzed passed the end of the bed and out of the bedroom door. Moments later Tseng heard the shower start up, without, he noted the accompaniment of the usual boisterous off key singing that usually went along with it. For a moment he sat there irresolute. He knew he could have handled that better, but he hadn't known what else to say. He also couldn't understand why the other Turk was so angry about his leaving all of a sudden. Tseng had to remind himself that /this/ is what it was meant to be like. Nothing serious, nothing in-depth, no matter what one might feel toward the other. If that were the case he shouldn't stay. He should get his things together and leave as he had planned. One part of him seriously wanted to go into the bathroom and apologize. The other, the part that eventually won out, told him not to. This was for the best.

With a deep sigh that seemed to echo around the small darkened room, Tseng reached for his pants and got ready to leave.

* * *

Rufus was late.

Reno leant back against the wall next to the big double doors of the conference room and waited patiently. Obviously the staff meeting had run overtime. They usually did. Reno was just thankful that he was rarely ever invited to them. He was a Turk, not an executive. He could just imagine the Vice-President stuck in there though. His fingers tapping the polished wood on the huge conference table, willing the meeting to and end. No doubt as soon as his old man /did/ call the meeting to and end, Rufus would be the first out the door, regardless that his seat was one of the furthest from the exit.

Reno was just finished with this thought as he heard the scraping of chairs from inside the conference room, signaling that people were getting ready to leave.

One of the double doors opened and Reno began walking towards it, expecting to see a rather irate Rufus barge out. It wasn't Rufus. In fact Reno never had the chance to get a good look at the man, who was so intent on not losing his grip on the stacks of papers under his arm, before, without looking where he was going, plowed straight into the Turk scattering his papers all over the floor by his feet.

"For the love of…" The man muttered under his breath. Then he looked up at Reno looking extremely embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching."

Reno offered the dark-haired man a lopsided smile and shrugged. "Nothing broken. It's dangerous to keep your eyes closed around here. You should be more careful."

The man gave him a curious look before bending down to retrieve the scattered papers. Reno soon bent down to help. When it looked as though everything had been recovered and was again tucked tightly underneath the man's arm the man spoke a simple word of thanks and turned to disappear down the corridor. Reno watched him go.

"Making new friends?" He heard Rufus' amused tone behind him.

"Always." Reno answered. "He had a nice ass."

Rufus rolled his eyes and prompted them both to begin walking back toward his office. "Please Reno I have to work with that guy. You wanted something?"

"Yeah I have to cancel on you tonight."

Rufus looked annoyed, but far from shocked.

"Tseng is working you on a Friday night? Doesn't he know that sacrilege to the Turk's code?"

Reno brushed off the joke and shrugged. "Something very important apparently. But he makes it sound like my nights are going to be fairly busy for a number of weeks, not just tonight."

"Pity." Rufus responded as they came to a stop in front of the outer doors to his office. "Should I not even bother asking Rude or Tseng?"

"Dunno." Reno confessed. "I wasn't really paying /that/ much attention during the briefing."

"Something bothering you?" Rufus asked with uncharacteristic concern in his voice.

"Usually."

With nothing more to say, and definitely nothing Reno wanted to get involved in with Rufus, Reno turned and began his trek back toward the elevators.

Rufus watched his friend's back for a few minutes before sighing deeply and running a hand through his thick blond strands.

There had been something a little off in Reno's behavior for a couple of weeks now and Rufus couldn't work out why. He wouldn't have been so concerned if it had just been Reno either, but all of the Turks seemed to be suffering from the same problem. Well, maybe not Rude, but one could never tell with him. Sullen, distracted and uncommunicative. It wasn't just because Reno had cancelled on him tonight. In fact this was the fourth week running that Reno had cancelled on him. But this was the first time he had said something work-related. And for almost as long, he had been getting irate calls off Heidigar about the failure rates of these so called professionals. Heidigar of course felt that this was somehow Rufus' job to sort out and was demanding such action. But Rufus didn't want to just start in on the group with no reason. No it would be far better to investigate this a little further. More than likely it was something simple like arguing between themselves. Surely something like that would be likely to change to group's dynamic.

Rufus turned and walked into the outer office telling his secretary to; "Schedule an appointment with Tseng of the Turks for later in the day", before heading back into his office proper.

At least if he got this sorted out, he may get his drinking buddy back in the very least. He was sure there was a good reason for everything.

* * *

Reno slid into the passenger seat of the sleek black sports car just as Tseng slid the key into the ignition. Before he could turn it, Reno stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Wait, I wanted to tell you something."

Tseng seemed to know immediately what this was about and so wore a look of irritation.

Reno saw the look but plunged on regardless. "I wanted to apologize. I was acting like a child. I don't know what came over me."

Upon hearing the apology, Tseng's irritation seemed to melt away to be replaced by something that Reno couldn't read. But the expression was decidedly warmer.

"I understand."

That said and done, Reno removed his hand from Tseng's arm and rested a little more comfortably into his seat. "Good. So are we on for tomorrow night?"

Tseng started the car, the irritated look returning almost immediately.

"I take it you weren't paying attention during the briefing."

"Don't ever let anyone tell you that the leader of the Turks isn't as sharp as a tack." Reno responded.

Throwing the car into gear, Tseng pulled the car out onto the busy main street that ran next to the Shinra building.

"Put simply, you are now on bodyguard duty. Terrorists have threatened a reactor worker trying to get information from him. They have not threatened him directly, but the life of his son. That is who you are to be guarding."

Reno nodded, not extremely pleased with the news. Bodyguard duty was a 24hr affair that lasted for anything from a couple of days to a couple of years. Reno rarely liked spending that much time with himself let alone one other person. Luckily for him though, after a couple of days, one of the other Turks would relieve him. Still, that didn't happen all the time.

"Since when did Shinra care about one little reactor worker?"

"Since I pointed out that we could follow this man till he leads us to those who have been threatening him. It could be a big break for us if it turns out to be the same group we have been tracking. He has only agreed to go along with this as long as his son is protected by Shinra."

"I don't suppose this son of his is 18 or over, promiscuous and lickable. Or at the very least have a sister that is?" Reno asked hopefully, jokingly.

"No." Tseng relied caustically, "he is five years old and is an only child of a very poor unmarried reactor worker."

"Okay, I was just joking." Reno huffed.

After that the two seemed to find little left to talk about and spent the remainder of the trip in silence

"Mr. Thiele, my name is Tseng. I am from Shinra."

Mr. Thiele looked at the pair standing on his doorstep with nothing short of shock.

"I-I know wh-who you are Mr. Tseng. I-I didn't expect Turks."

"You are involved in some serious business Mr. Thiele. The President wants you well looked after. May we come in. I would prefer it if nobody saw us here." Tseng said politely gesturing out toward the street behind him.

Of course Tseng and Reno had done an extensive search of the street to make sure that the house was not being watched, but Tseng never liked to take chances.

Blushing furiously, Mr. Thiele let the two in and led them to a small living room where he bade them to sit down while he fetched coffee.

"No thank you Mr. Thiele. We have urgent business to attend to. We have made arrangements for the twenty four hour protection of your son and surveillance of yourself."

Reno looked the small house over along with its owner. A small dwelling that barely took up the same floor space of Rufus' living room. It looked as though someone had tried to make the place look neat, tidy and clean and had failed horribly. Not through any fault of their own surely. It was as if the house itself was against the owner. Rotting floorboards, water damaged ceiling, furniture that looked as though it had passed its usefulness at least fifty years ago. There was a door over on the far wall that Reno assumed led towards the bedrooms and another at the opposite end that would lead toward the kitchen. Reno felt he should know the general layout of the place enough. Most of the still-standing houses in the slums left over from when the city was first built often looked the same. Reno himself had lived in one for at least a little while. In fact, if he recalled correctly, it wasn't terribly far from here either.

The man himself didn't look much better than his house. Worn, tired and older than his actual years. He couldn't have been more than thirty years old, but he looked at least fifty. Reno didn't even know how this man was able to move let alone work for the company. Funny, he had thought reactor workers got paid more than this…

"My son?" Mr. Thiele said sitting down on a worn brown couch. "You are going to protect him?"

"Of course Mr. Thiele. Until the situation is resolved of course."

The man took a deep soothing breath as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Not here though. I want him taken up on the plates."

Tseng gave Reno a subtle look that told the other Turk what he was thinking. Tseng had known this was coming and was prepared to say 'no'.

Taking his eyes away from Tseng's he ran his eye over the house again, once more struck by the similarity of the place where he first grew up. And with that same thought came another feeling, this one much greater. It was pity.

"I'm sure that can be arranged." Reno said out loud.

Tseng tossed him another look, this one irritated before turning a more pleasant look back toward Mr. Thiele. But Thiele was looking at Reno now.

"Really?"

Reno nodded and said no more already too aware of the berating he was going to receive off Tseng the moment they left.

Tseng didn't understand what this man wanted. Thiele knew that he would never be able to give his son a life out of the slums. So few that lived here ever got that chance. But now the opportunity had come that might at least get his son out of the slums for at least a few days where he would be safe and would give him a chance to see a world without garbage and squalor. Reno understood. He knew how this man felt.

"Good. When does this all begin?"

"Tonight Mr. Thiele. As I understand, those men will be expecting you at the bar in Sector Six. An associate of mine is already there staking the place out. Reno here will be the one looking after your son."

Thiele nodded and pushed himself up off the couch. "I'd best get him then."

He wandered off through the door Reno had guessed to be the hallway to the bedrooms. He had only been gone a split second before Reno felt a pair of eyes bore into the back of his neck.

"Don't be so heartless Tseng. It's only for a little while."

"Tell me this Reno, what is more heartless; A boy never knowing a better world or him knowing and then someone taking it away from him again?"

Reno didn't even have to think about that one. "Never knowing."

_At least if he knows there is hope, he'll never grow up just to give up like I nearly did._

He didn't say that last bit of course. It was pointless to try. Tseng would reprimand him no matter what he said.

A pity he never saw Tseng's eyes soften a little at his last statement. It was covered again too quickly as Thiele came back into the room clasping the hand of a small boy.

The boy looked at the Turks with big blue eyes, widened in slight fear.

Thiele led the boy up to Reno who crouched down to see the boy better and to hopefully reassure him.

"This is my Dale." The father introduced with the same pride he might use as if the boy had just passed medical school or something.

Reno could never understand the whole parental pleasure of children. It was certainly nothing Reno had received, and it was nothing Reno ever wanted to experience himself. But obviously the child was dearly loved and in this time and place, it was definitely something to be respected.

"Hello Dale." Reno said. "My name is Reno."

Dale's eyes softened slightly but he didn't dare move away from his father's side.

Thiele crouched down also and removed his hand from his son's grip. "Dale," his voice wavered slightly as Dale turned those big eyes bad up to his father, "Daddy has to go and do something important. You'll be going to stay with Reno for a while."

Whatever you say about kids, you can't say that they don't pick up on emotions. And Dale was a bright boy. He heard the catch in his father's voice, the glassy red eyes and knew that his father was in trouble. He shook his head resolutely and took back his father's hand.

"No. I want to stay with you."

"It's okay Dale. It's only for a little while. I need you to be brave my son."

Dale looked at his father a little while longer. His eyes seeming to take in every little emotion written across his father's features, finally coming to a decision.

"Okay."

Tseng came up behind Reno as he straightened up and prepared to leave, dropping his keys into Reno's palm.

"Take my car. It'll be safer. I will call you in the morning." Then more quietly, "Since this was your fabulous idea, you can take him back to your place. At least he won't then think that the unattainable big world above is not all beautiful and joyful."

After a few more heartfelt goodbyes from father to son, Reno and the boy left the house and got into Tseng's car.

"Will daddy be okay?" Dale asked quietly as Reno started up the engine.

"He has good people looking after him." Reno assured as best he could. If fact he didn't know what to say to the kid. He'd never really had to deal with little kids before and it was not something he looked forward to.

Dale seemed content with the answer though and settled back into his chair.

Reno pulled the car out onto the road smoothly before turning back to the sullen boy in the seat beside him. "I don't know about you Dale, but I could do with a drink."

* * *

Chucking his keys onto the kitchen bench Reno turned around to his young guest who was standing awkwardly near the closed door as if unsure he should be here. Reno wasn't surprised, the boy had probably never seen anything on top of the plates before and the experience must have been a little frightening. Reno remembered the first time he'd snuck up onto the plates. He was on a run for his boss in the slums and had a message that needed to be delivered to Upper Sector Four. Immediately he'd felt like everyone was staring at him, knowing he didn't belong. It was at that point that he'd suddenly developed an intense hate for most of those people. Those people living in their beautiful apartments in their beautiful section of the city that saw a young man with ragged clothing and a fierce look and dismissed him as gutter trash.

Ironic really, he was now a Turk. He was now fighting the people he used to work for and was one of those living topside. Luckily he wasn't so restrained by his morals to reject the job offer when it came. He'd also had a keen sense of self preservation that told him that continuing in his previous job wasn't going to promote a long happy life.

Looking at the boy he vaguely wondered if Dale thought the same as when he had first glimpsed the plates. Probably not. Dale was much younger and wasn't quite the same kind of kid Reno had been. He was quiet and reserved, Reno had been brash and obnoxious. It was more likely that Dale was awed and frightened by the sights he had seen on the car trip.

"Want a soda?" Reno asked politely.

Dale shook his head and continued looking at his shoes.

"Want something to eat?" It was a useless question, Reno doubted he had much in the way of anything edible in his apartment.

It didn't matter anyway, Dale just shook his head again.

"I'll need to go shopping anyway. We'll do that later."

They stood facing each other for a while longer. Both unsure of what to do. Finally Reno suggested, "I have some stuff you might be interesting in. Games, kids like video games right?"

Dale just gave him a confused look which was weird. Reno knew that some of the shops and bars in the slums had some of those old fashioned video game machines. When he was younger Reno and his friends used to spend hours a day on the things. Then again, Dale's father didn't seem the type to allow his son to go wandering around the slums by himself and definitely not into any bars.

Reno crossed the room to his television and hunted around in the cupboard underneath for the gaming console he'd been given last Yule. Dale curiously wandered after him and watched him take out the small gray box and hooked it up to the T.V.

"Rufus gave this to me last year." Reno explained, the fact that Dale wouldn't know who the hell Rufus was not seeming to bother him in the slightest. "We used to play this thing for hours on a weekend. Guess I never grew out of the habit."

It was true, when he and Rufus got together and turned the console on, it didn't usually get turned off again till at least fourteen hours later and only then because the screen would begin to blur in front of both their eyes. They were extremely competitive and Tseng used to tell them they were nothing more than overgrown kids. It didn't matter to either of them.

He switched it on and leant back on his heels to watch the intro to the game come on screen. Dale sat down on the couch opposite the T.V., his big blue eyes lit up in disbelief.

"It's a snowboarding game." Reno explained scowling slightly. Dale probably wouldn't know what snowboarding was. "An obstacle course of sorts. You have to guide the little man standing on the board around the different objects while steering him around the course. Here," Reno leant over and handed the controller to Dale who was sitting in wide-eyed astonishment at the game, "this is how you control him."

Reno talked Dale through the simple set of controls, all of which he seemed to pick up fairly quickly. They were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing on the bench.

"Have a go." Reno told Dale, "Yell if you need any help."

But Dale wasn't paying attention anymore, his eyes already focused on the game.

Reno went to the phone and picked it up.

"Reno's day care service, money back guarantee on any and all breakages."

/"If Mr. Theile calls I suggest not answering the phone like that."/

"Boss." Reno greeted. "How's the head hunt?"

/"Still in progress. How's the boy?"/

"I have him strung up to my clothesline by his hair Tseng." Reno replied sarcastically.

/"Reno you don't have a clothesline."/

"He's playing video games."

Tseng was silent for a few moments, probably in relief. /"Are you sure you can keep him there?"/

"Having second thoughts Tseng?" Reno asked smugly.

/"Well, taking care of a child can be a lot of work. I just wanted to know if you are prepared for that. You aren't the most responsible man I know."/

"I can handle it." Reno told him defensively. "You have very little faith in me boss."

/"If you are sure. Remember nobody should be looking for him topside, but you still can't leave him alone for too long. He still is a child./"

"A fact I am aware of. Now don't you have a job you should be doing or something? I have to go shopping."

To finish off the string of rudeness, Reno finished the call by hanging up on his boss.

"Well Dale what's say we go shopping."

He raised his head from the game and swiveled 'round enough to give Reno a rather alarmed look from over the top of the couch. His look seemed to be saying, 'do we /really/ have to go out there into the big scary world again?'

"You don't want to go?" Reno guessed.

He received a small head shake as an answer.

"Sorry Dale, but I can't feed you with what I have, and I can't leave you here on your own."

Dale nodded sadly and got up from the couch. Reno just watched him feeling as though he'd just kicked a dog that had just been run over by a car. He didn't know how one person could make him feel so nasty with a mere look.

"Wait. I've got a better idea, go play your game, I'll get a babysitter."

* * *

Because of the bags of groceries in his arms, he was forced to knock on his own apartment door to get in.

Maggie opened the door for him quickly and let him inside.

He luckily made it to the kitchen bench just before he was about to drop at least three of the bags.

"Any troubles?" Reno asked Maggie who had come up to the bench to help him unpack.

"You can't have been gone for forty minutes Reno. Besides he hasn't hardly looked up from that game since I've been here."

Reno nodded, he hadn't expected any different. "He's a little anti-social. Besides what the hell can you talk to a kid about anyway? I can't exactly ask him about sports, bars or women."

Maggie started going through the bags. "Damn huh, you may have to have a civilized conversation with a person. You know kids aren't aliens they're people, you can talk to them."

"I know, it's just weird. Tseng would have been better off giving him to Rude though. I mean you and Rude are already playing at being the happy little couple why not give yous a kid as well."

After inspecting the groceries for a little while Maggie screwed up her face. "What did you buy Reno? Most of this is instant stuff or snack food. You do realize you have to cook a child a nutritious dinner right?"

"I can't cook." Reno explained sourly. "Besides he's a slum kid. What makes you think he was eating anything healthy before he came here?"

"That's not the point. He's here now and Shinra can afford to buy him /real/ food."

"Fabulous." Reno muttered walking back into the main room and over to where Dale was playing his game.

The boy had just finished playing a round, his score (under DAL) going up in the charts alongside those for ACE (Reno) and GOD (Rufus). Only for this round the name now in 1st position was DAL.

"You're shitting me." Reno blurted. "I spent five hours pounding Rufus' ass for that score."

Dale looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Metaphorically speaking." Reno said quickly. "Wow, maybe I should put you up against him on our next wager."

He was rewarded with a stealthy slap on the back of his head. Maggie looked at him sternly, well she was trying to. She looked more amused than anything.

"I have to go now. Watch your mouth around him and go make some proper food."

"Blow me." Reno said pleasantly.

Maggie smiled. "If you don't do as told I'll tell Rude," here her voice dropped considerably so Dale couldn't hear her, "that you backed me up against a wall and tried to feel me up."

"He won't believe I was being serious."

Maggie reached down a pinched the skin just above the line of her dress a few times. A few tiny red blotches appeared on her skin.

"What does that look like?"

With a few creative lies Maggie could make Rude believe they were marks from just about anything. His hands or his mouth, and Rude would believe her. Reno paled slightly.

"And there are more creative places I could put marks too." She told him quietly.

Reno swallowed thickly and turned back to Dale who was watching them very curiously.

"Feel like some steak and vegetables Dale?"

* * *

Reno looked down at the food on the plate in front of him with a grimace. He knew he couldn't cook. In fact Reno wasn't even sure if he could properly microwave half of the instant food he had bought either. A pity really. He sure would've liked an alternative right about now.

The vegetables looked like somebody had left them out in the sun for days then served along with a helping of muddy rainwater. And Reno was pretty sure that if he stabbed the steak with his knife it would 'moo' at him or something.

He looked across the table at Dale and noticed that the boy seemed to be having similar thoughts about his own food. Reno couldn't blame him. The kid probably didn't have his expectations set very high after he had to watch Reno clear off the layers of work and garbage off the dining table so the two of them actually had somewhere to eat that looked halfway decent. No doubt he probably thought that the food was going to poison him.

Reno let out a huff of air. "Dale? Want some pizza instead?"

Dale quickly nodded.

Reno got up from the table and went over to the phone while Dale went back over to the couch.

After ordering the pizza, Reno joined Dale on the couch just as the boy was guiding his snowboarder over a high jump. The snowboarder performed at least six neat tricks before landing without a wobble on the snow. For a five year old, he sure could pick up things pretty quick. It was just unfortunate that it didn't seem to include conversation. It wasn't as if the boy had been ignoring Reno since coming here. He just hadn't been speaking. Reno didn't have a lot of experience with children but he assumed that even the most quiet of kids could even manage a word of two every so often.

He didn't let it worry him too much. He wouldn't have known what to say to the boy anyway.

* * *

Reno's eyes fluttered open as he awoke. It didn't take much for his hazy mind to realize that it was still dark in the room and something must have woke him. A slight sound in the apartment maybe? Certainly nothing major or he would have instinctively reached for the gun concealed underneath his head between the pillow and the couch cushion.

It didn't matter what had awoken him though, training bought his mind into complete readiness within a few seconds, brushing off the last amounts of sleep from his brain. He was still weary, but he was fully awake.

Eventually his brain caught on to what the sounds had been. Straining his ears he could heard a light snuffling sound coming through the open door to his bedroom where Dale was.

He was up and heading toward the room a split-second later, his gun held firmly in his left hand. He padded up to the door, his footfalls practically silent on the carpet. Taking a quick look into the room a small part of him expecting to see the bed surrounded by five or six heavily armed terrorists, but he thought the occurrence unlikely. It was as he thought, empty apart from the small mound curled up underneath the sheets snuffling quietly.

Leaning back out of the door, Reno flipped on the light in the room behind him in order to see better and hid his left arm behind his back.

"Dale? Are you alright?"

In the faint light he saw the boy sit up quickly, red rimmed eyes and a tear streaked face. Dale shook his head slightly.

Flipping the on the safety on his gun, he went back over to the couch and again hid the gun underneath the pillows before returning to the bedroom. Once back, Reno didn't know what the hell to do. Dale was clearly upset, and Reno didn't have the foggiest clue how to handle that. If Dale were older he would have gone and poured him a shot of whiskey or three to help him sleep. Obviously he couldn't do that with Dale. Well, he could, but if Tseng found out it would inspire yet another rant for Reno to have to endure.

Reno held out his hand to the boy. "C'mon, I'll find something to help you sleep."

Dale instead offered two hands out toward Reno. It seemed to be a movement of great reluctance at first on Dale's part, but he was quite adamant about it now. It took Reno a few moments to work out the bizarre gesture.

Brows furrowed, Reno eventually did as he was bidden and picked the light boy up and began carrying him toward the kitchen. Once there he set Dale down on a bench and began rummaging around for a clean glass. Eventually he was able to pour a glass of milk for Dale who took it and immediately took a sip.

It occurred to Reno that this was something that perhaps Dale was used to. Surely the child's immediate responses were reflex actions.

"Does your father get you a glass of milk when you can't sleep?" Reno asked curiously.

Dale nodded and took a larger gulp leaving a small milk moustache above his lip.

Reno nodded satisfied. That would explain why a child so nervous and withdrawn would suddenly allow himself to be picked up and fed milk in the middle of the night.

Dale put the almost empty cup down beside him, his hand moving to pick up another object on the bench. Reno's sunglasses. He shot a small look at Reno as if he were asking permission.

"Knock yourself out."

Dale put on the glasses that were way too big for him, covering the red swollen eyes beneath.

Reno allowed a small snigger at the sight of Dale wearing his glasses together with the milk moustache and unruly sleep mussed hair.

Seeing Reno's amusement Dale smiled as well.

Reno was glad to see the smile. He had intended to ask Dale what he was upset about, but hadn't in fear of upsetting the boy more. He didn't know how to comfort a crying child, but at least it seemed he had managed to ease the sad look from the boy's face. It would suffice. If Dale wanted to talk about anything, it was probably better to wait until he was ready to talk without prying. Maggie was right, Dale wasn't just some alien, he was a person. He hoped that sooner or later the boy would trust him enough to talk to him.

_To be continued…_

* * *

_Notes: So that's that so far. I had agonized over whether to put part of the ending at the beginning figuring it would give away too much. Still I have to admit, it does make the story a little more intriguing than Reno's first babysitting adventure._

_On an interesting note the shortened names for the games' scores are what I use myself GOD, and what I imagine my friend and Reno fan Acelynd would use, ACE. A little joke for Ace's benefit lol._

_Anyway please R&R if possible, I like to know what people think, and keep an eye out for the next chapter that should be coming soon. And to those following the 'Monsters' series, no this will not be as long as those and should finish at the conclusion of the second chapter or at the very latest include a very short third chapter._

_Leaving you with the words George Lucas should have said;_

_Sorry but it is only a prequel, deal with it :p_

_AF_


	2. Chapter 2

A Little Boy Called Dale

_By AF_

Chapter II

Reno bit his lip in thought as he bent in over to get a better look at the problem. A difficult problem to be sure. And one he usually ignored altogether had it not been for his want to show a young mind something other than a video game or how funny his guardian was while under the effects of several types of alcohol. But now that Reno was here, staring the problem in the face did he wish that he had left Dale where he was a went and fetched a beer.

Dale was currently seated on a stack of boxes next to an open toolbox, peering intently at Reno's problem, the Turk's oversized sunglasses perched haphazardly on his nose as he pretended to be as engrossed in the problem as his older friend.

Finally Reno ducked his head out from beneath the rusting bonnet and held out his hand to Dale.

"Wrench."

Diligently Dale poked his hand into to toolbox by his side and handed the required tool to Reno. He took the tool and stuck his head back underneath the bonnet of the car. A second or so later, he began to savagely beat the rusted motor with the wrench eliciting a few giggles from the boy beside him.

Reno couldn't help it. He and his 'apprentice' had been working on his piece of shit car all morning, trying to get the thing to purr. But as the day had waned, Reno's optimistic mood had slipped and now he felt like beating the car into starting rather than the coaxing tactic of trying to fix it properly. He really should have known better. This car hadn't started since it had taken its last dying chug in this very parking garage almost two years ago.

His attempt at showing Dale how to bring the dead back to life, now well and truly failed, Reno stopped smacking the car with the wrench and straightened his back.

"There's no use for it Dale. I think it's dead. Reckon I need a new motor."

Dale finished chuckling and straightened the sunglasses on his nose. "I think you need a new car."

Reno looked aghast at the prospect. "Bite thy tongue apprentice! This car is a symbol to my life's changes. It's a classic!"

Reno paused for a minute and looked over the rusted, green piece of shit sitting neatly in his parking garage and frowned. "A classic piece of shit perhaps." He conceded. "But I bought this car with my very first Turk payment. I slept in this thing for over a week before I could get a place to live. This car dies when I do. And when I do I want to be buried in it."

Dale grinned. "Can I drive it if you fix it?"

"You're a little young yet. Besides I don't think this thing will be moving anytime soon." Reno face lit up with an evil smile. "If you're real good I'll let you drive Tseng's though."

Dale turned to eye the polished black sports car parked just outside the garage. Knowing that Reno would need a working car while looking after Dale, Tseng hadn't bothered to ask for his car back since Reno had drove it away from Dale's house that first time well over a week and a half ago. Reno sure as hell wasn't complaining, that was for sure.

Dale's face lit up with the prospect and he held two hands up to Reno in a gesture that had become all too familiar. Sighing, Reno did as bidden, easily hoisting the small boy up from the stack of boxes he was sitting on and balanced the weight on his hip.

"Can we go see God?" Dale asked hopefully.

Reno rolled his eyes. God. Dale's name for Rufus. The first time the two had met was when Rufus had come to pay a visit to Reno one night. He had noticed Dale engrossed in his video games and sat down next to him. When Dale had asked what his name was, Rufus had replied simply; "Watch."

Ten games later, Rufus had beaten Dale in all but three of them, then had entered his three letter name into the scoreboard. God. And so that is how Dale referred to him as.

"He is not God." Reno replied, "He is a spoilt little brat with more money than brain cells. And he'd be at work at the moment."

"So?"

Reno checked his watch seeing that they still had a bit of time before dinner.

Living with Dale had turned out to be fairly easy once Reno had figured out his routine. After breakfast, Dale would play games for a few hours. Then lunch, then a short nap time. Before dinner he liked to be doing something active. Sometimes he'd coax Reno into playing a game with him that usually had them both running around the apartment like noisy infants. Either that or go for a walk or drive. Then dinner. After dinner was a time Reno had designated T.V. time (a time that no kid should ever be without. The night after that went fairly smoothly, depending on whether Dale could sleep or not. Right now, Dale had missed his nap, but he seemed full on ready for the adventurous part of the day. Today it seemed to be going to see Rufus.

Reno shrugged, "Eh, why not? It'll piss him off at any rate. Might be fun. C'mon, I'll give you your first driving lesson."

He sent Dale down on his feet next to the car and opened the drivers door. Slipping in the seat, Dale climbed in afterwards and settled himself in Reno's lap. Dale was a small kid, Reno could easily see over the boy's head, and reach around him the get at the steering column.

"Isn't this dangerous?" Dale asked as Reno shut the door and poked the key into the ignition.

"Very." Reno affirmed casually. "Just watch out for telegraph poles."

He started the engine and they were off.

* * *

He couldn't deny that it felt a little weird walking through the building at this time. For one thing he had five year old Dale perched on his shoulders. For another, he had been for all intents and purposes, off his job for the last fortnight or so. It seemed as though he had been gone forever really. Like he had started a new life. He had even begun to forget what his life actually was like before he had Dale to care for. Hardly seemed like that could happen over a mere two weeks. Could it?

Okay so truthfully he remembered what life had been like. It was more like the fact that he didn't miss that life so much anymore. He had at first. He hadn't been able to go out every weekend night, and sometimes most weeknights as well, and drink himself in an alcoholic stupor. He wasn't able to crack onto any person that caught his eye. He hadn't even seen Tseng for the whole two weeks. Least not in that regard anyway. And the really insane notion that he couldn't get over was that he really didn't mind so much.

He made sure to keep it to himself though. Tseng would just think he was being stupid and remind him that the arrangement was only temporary and again how unfit he really was to care for a child. Rude would think pretty much the same with the added bonus that he was insane. Maggie would think it was cute. Weird but cute. (almost as horrifying a thought) And Rufus would think all of the above and probably try to give him a lobotomy with his name plaque. He couldn't escape the truth though. He liked having Dale around. He was funny, didn't ask too many questions and made Reno feel like he was doing something that actually mattered for a change. Instead of ending lives, he was helping one to stay alive and grow. It was an immensely humbling experience to find out that your previous life was a good waste of fucking time. The day after realising it a whole two days ago, he'd had to sit quietly on the couch for two hours and sort through it all. He must have appeared comatose in that time. Dale had gotten so worried about him that he'd fetched him an aspirin and a bottle of whiskey to help him wash it down. And that only served to endear the little guy to him even more.

Trust him to have to look after the only kid in Midgar that wasn't a total shit. But then, that was just Reno's kind of luck.

At present Dale was sitting on his shoulders and staring out over the city with wide eyes through the glassed wall of the elevator.

"Pretty." Dale said softly.

Reno however didn't look upon the view with any more awe than he'd had the first time he'd seen it himself.

"Not pretty Dale. Those aren't natural clouds."

"Pretty." Dale insisted somewhat sternly. "Look."

Reno sighed and looked away. "I've seen it Dale."

"No." Dale said seriously tapping Reno's head lightly and moving it 'round to look again. "Look proply. Everything's moving and glowing. Shiny. Doncha see it Reno?"

Reno had never thought that anything in Midgar ever looked 'shiny' But to Dale it did. Up here everything did look new and shiny. Bright and alive. The small amount of sun that crept in through the clouds glinted off metal framework and illuminated the sidewalks far below. Seeing it this way, it did look kinda…pretty.

"I see it." Reno told him, the dry tone now absent from his voice.

The elevator 'pinged' and Reno stepped out of the elevator and into the corridor. Dale swivelled his head around taking in his surroundings.

"Is this where God works?"

Reno chuckled slightly and began walking the familiar floor. "Not hardly and I wish you'd stop calling Rufus that. He's not a god. He's an under-worked, over-appreciated egotistical little twerp. This is the floor where /I/ work. The only god you're likely to find on this floor has long dark hair and a bad temper. I just wanta check in. We'll go see Rufus when I'm done."

"Okay." Dale answered not at all put out. Though he seemed a little anxious at the thought of meeting someone new.

The Turk's offices weren't all that far from the elevator bank. One turn to the right off the main corridor put him in direct view of the doorway to the outer office where Tseng resided. Outside the doorway, Reno lifted Dale off his shoulders and started toward the door. Dale hurried to catch up and took hold of Reno's hand as they stepped through. This part of the office was usually meant for a secretary of some sort. Unfortunately the Turks weren't allowed that particular luxury on account of their type of sensitive work. Instead this part of the office was given over to Reno and Rude. Usually half of the office was impeccably tidy and lemony fresh while the other half was cluttered with and array of papers and useless shit that somehow always smelt like stale coffee and cigarette smoke. Upon entering, Reno stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening.

"I'll kill that fucking bastard!" Reno took a deep breath and looked sadly over his half of the office space. "He cleaned."

"Who?" Dale asked meekly.

Reno seemed to notice Dale again for the first time on entering and immediately bit his tongue. "Never mind."

Reno knocked on Tseng's door. "I'm busy." Was the agitated response.

Reno stared and the open door in confusion.

_Since when was Tseng so rude?_

"Not for me your not." Reno told the door confidently.

A few moments later the door opened to show Reno his boss. It seemed as though /everything/ in the office had changed for the worst. Tseng actually looked flustered.

"Reno? What are you…?" Tseng tapered off as his eyes floated down to take in the boy standing slightly behind Reno, steadfastly clutching his guardian's hand.

Tseng's expression turned from irritation to one that almost looked like despondency. Again something new. Again something unnerving.

"We were in the neighbourhood." Reno began slowly. "Thought I might check in see how goes things."

"Not good." Tseng replied softly.

It didn't take him long to figure out what it might have to do with. Not with that earlier look. Reno inclined his head slightly toward Dale. To Reno's vast displeasure, Tseng nodded slightly.

Taking a deep breath, careful not to show anything but calm patience, Reno knelt down next to Dale and dug a few coins out of his back pocket.

"There's a vending machine just down the hall. Why don't you go down and get yourself something bad to eat huh kid."

With a dubious look at Tseng, Dale took the money and disappeared from sight.

"What happened?" Reno asked almost immediately, straightening up.

Tseng came out of his office and into Reno's, his face now calm and composed. But he still didn't look happy. Reno got the impression that his boss could've done without seeing Dale at this time. Reno wasn't stupid, he had an idea about what must have happened, he just wanted to hear it off Tseng before jumping straight to conclusions.

"Last night. Rude relieved me at midnight. We have been watching the house diligently since the last new wave of threats." Reno remembered Tseng telling him about this. Apparently their presence at Mr. Thiele's place hadn't gone totally unnoticed. The terrorists had stepped up their threats as a result. It was to be expected. They didn't want people getting Shinra involved, let alone the Turks. It made things a little too hot. "We only ever watched the streets and the front of the house. His house backed up onto a building and I would never have…"

"Tseng," Reno interrupted, "What /happened/?"

"They came in through the back. We never even realised until it was the next morning and Rude went in to check up on him. They kept every thing quiet, and snuck in where we couldn't see them."

"What happened to him though? Was he attacked?"

Tseng gave Reno his best, _Don't be an idiot look. _"Mr. Thiele is dead. They did quite a number on him too. We couldn't keep it under wraps either. Someone made sure that exactly what happened is all over the slums. A number of our contacts have become very tight lipped. They think that we can't protect them anymore. And we lost our chance to capture the group."

Reno blinked in surprise at his boss. He didn't think he had heard right. "He's dead? But they wanted to use him, not kill him. If they wanted to make a statement, okay, I'll buy it. But /kill/ him?"

"It seemed that since we took away their threats on his son, they realised they may never get him to co-operate. Especially after we became involved. At that point it would have been more in their interests to kill him rather than pressure him."

Reno just continued to stand there in shock. "How could they get past you like that?"

"They were very good. And we were very stupid to assume otherwise."

Another thing occurred to Reno then, something that struck him like a blow to the stomach.

_What about Dale?_

"Heidgar is rightly annoyed at us. He believes our reputation may suffer as a result. He wants us to track these men down." Tseng shook his head wearily. "He doesn't know what he asks. We never got a look at anyone we might recognise. Perhaps you were right and Rude be on bodyguard detail. I could've used your eye. You would've stood a better chance at recognising one of them if they were around at all."

"What about Dale?" Reno asked softly.

Tseng looked at Reno a little confused for a second. "I doubt his life is in danger any longer. He will be moved to an appropriate place."

"An orphanage." Reno guessed. "Dale can't go to a place like that."

"It is not your concern. You did your job and protected his life. Had we never gotten involved there may have been two casualties last night rather than one."

He was about to yell at Tseng; _"How could you be so heartless!?" _But Tseng wasn't being heartless. He was being logical. As far as this threat was concerned, Shinra's job was over. Reno knew he couldn't think so practically about it all. He wished he could but he couldn't. Dale's father was dead. There were no other recorded relatives. His mother had died giving birth. No other relatives had been on record. Dale would be classed an orphan and treated as such. For some reason though it seemed very wrong. Dale had been very close to his father. It had taken him quite a while to get used to the fact that he would be living away from him for a while. Now he had to come to terms with never seeing him again. On top of all that he would be shifted to a new place where he wouldn't know anyone or anything. Shinra would probably send him to a place on the plates just to save at least /some/ of their shattered ego. But it didn't much matter. It still seemed wrong.

_Where was Dale anyway?_

The boy seemed to be taking a long time at the vending machine. Curious, and craving any little distraction from his thoughts, Reno excused himself from his boss and went to check the corridor.

No Dale.

He stepped out further to get a better look. Something crunched under his boot. It was a half-full chip packet that had been carelessly dropped beside the door.

_Or rather its been dropped in shock and left behind._

Reno's heart leapt up into his throat. "Fuck! Dale!"

Tseng appeared in the corridor just as Reno was about to take off. His boss grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could move.

"What's wrong?"

"Dale heard us. He's gone. Lemme go I gotta go find him!"

Tseng released his hold and Reno spun and bolted off toward the elevators.

* * *

_Where would a five year old go after finding out his father had just been murdered? He would probably just run. Nowhere really in mind, just run and hide from the world for a while._

That could mean he was anywhere. Shit he could still be in the Shinra building, huddled into a corner crying his eyes out. That was what most 'normal' little boys might do. However, Dale wasn't exactly normal. He was a slum kid. An overprotected slum kid sure, but a slum kid all the same. Reno felt sure he was heading in the right direction as he left the building. Dale wouldn't be cowering in a little corner of a strange place. He would want to be somewhere familiar. Somewhere safe. But where could that be?

Reno skidded to a stop on the sidewalk in front of Shinra HQ to give himself time to think. First he scanned the sidewalks surrounding him. No Dale.

_He could be trying to make it back to my apartment, _Reno thought, _That was probably the most familiar place for Dale in Upper Midgar._

His PHS interrupted his thoughts almost startling him. Frustrated, Reno hauled the device out of his back pocket and put it up to his ear.

"What?!"

"Did you find him?" It was Tseng. Hardly surprising the way Reno had bolted earlier.

Reno took a deep breath to calm himself and began a fast walk toward his apartment. It would be far quicker for him to go back down to the parking garage and get Tseng's car to search. But Reno didn't really believe Dale was heading for his apartment anyway. It was just a direction to start off in.

"No. If you aren't busy, could you do me a favour?"

"Which is?"

"Check the building. I didn't really give it a good search. I'm gonna search the streets. Check with security, if there's no sign your car is down in the parking garage."

Reno was almost wincing as he talked. He was practically issuing orders to his boss and he was sure to receive a berating off Tseng for it whether the man helped him with the search or not. If he hadn't been so worried about Dale he definitely would have phrased his request a little better.

Tseng's irritation showed in his voice, but he responded positively at least. "Okay. I'll be in touch." Then he hung up.

Reno stuffed the PHS back into his pocket and quickened his pace. It wouldn't hurt to check the building. Security monitored everything that came and went in that tower. If Dale was still there, Tseng would find him. If he didn't, at least Reno would know for sure that he'd left.

As he walked he stopped a few passers-by to question them. Nobody had seen the little boy. A block from the tower he crossed the road in front of the train station. And stopped. And looked back.

_He couldn't have! He's only five._

He remembered once last week when he had taken Dale for a walk down the street for some exercise for Dale and a packet of cigarettes for Reno. A few blocks up from Reno's place they'd run across the train station. Dale being awed and interested by everything Upper Midgar had started in with a barrage of questions. They had stood in front of the rail map outside the station for almost an hour while Reno answered Dale's questions and showed him interesting details on the map. Where it went around the sectors and even down into the slums. And on a note of personal interest, where in relation to all of this, was Dale's house down in the slums. He'd been so excited about it all. Reno had even taken him on a little train trip to Sector One so Dale could stand on the overhead bridge while a train passed by below.

_But he doesn't have any money._

That thought was a relief. After all the most familiar and likely place that Dale would have headed after hearing the news about his father, might have been to head for home. Reno was just about to pass by the train station altogether when he remembered;

_He /does/ have money. I gave him some for the vending machine._

Reno had given him too much for one little snack. But in his haste to get Dale out of the room, he hadn't really been paying attention to counting out correct change.

_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!_

Changing course quickly, Reno doubled back and headed for the ticket booth in front of the station. As he approached he saw that the man behind the glass was about fifteen years old and looked about as thrilled with his job as most of Heidigar's secretaries did. He cast a bored eye over Reno as he stepped up to the window.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah. I want to ask you a few questions. I want to know if a little boy has come by here. About five years old, light brown hair, blue eyes. See him?"

The guy didn't take too long to think about it. In fact his answer of 'no' was almost immediate. It wasn't like he was obviously lying. He just didn't seem to care. He turned his attention away from Reno after this and went back to reading a magazine.

Reno sighed. Pity he wasn't in uniform. Still…

He reached around to one of his back pockets for his wallet and ID. With the other hand he took his handgun from the waistband of his jeans. Holding his 'Department of Administrative Research' ID up against the glass of the window, he then used the muzzle of his gun to tap on the glass to get the worker's attention.

The teenager looked irritated at first, but after seeing the gun and Reno's ID card, his eyes widened and he took a small step back.

"Think harder." Reno urged in a cold voice. "Small boy. Blue eyes, brown hair."

The rail worker swallowed a few times then, "Yeah, 'bout ten minutes ago. Got a ticket for Lower Three."

Reno wasn't pleased by the news. "Which train?"

"The twenty-two. Left about seven minutes ago from platform two."

"When's the next one due for that area?"

"Thirty, forty minutes, something like that. Same platform. You want a ticket?"

Reno didn't answer. The wait was too long. Too long to have Dale out roaming by himself in the slums. Especially now that he seemed to be heading for his own neighbourhood.

Reno checked his watch. Dale would get into Lower three in another five minutes. The trip from here wasn't a long one, at least not by train. The roads down there were even slower having to pass through checkpoints and the afternoon traffic. Still, it was quicker than waiting a possible hour or so if he had to take the next train. At the very least he would be /doing/ something.

Turning away from the teenager in the booth, Reno started back toward the road. He could call Tseng and get a lift. But that would add even more time.

Reaching the edge of the road, Reno didn't stop. He walked straight out into the road, shoving his wallet back into his pocket, but keeping his gun ready. Stopping in the middle of the centre lane, he braced his legs and levelled his gun at the windshield of the first on-coming car. The dark blue sedan driver was rightly caught by surprised at seeing the crazed red-head in the middle of the road and immediately slammed on his brakes. The car skidded to a stop a bare inch off touching Reno's legs. Reno paid it no heed.

"Get out." He commanded.

The driver sat there stupidly for a while and just simply stared at the gun in Reno's hands.

Rolling his eyes impatiently, Reno crossed over to the driver's door and yanked it open. He pulled out the bewildered driver and dumped him down onto the seat of his expensive black suit. The man landed with a started grunt and watched as Reno got into his car and sped away accompanied by a screech of tires and the faint smell or burning rubber.

It had taken him the better part of an hour to reach Lower Three and he had nearly given at least three other drivers and a checkpoint guard heart failure in his attempt. At least Rufus would have been proud of his driving skills.

* * *

He couldn't describe the relief he felt though when he finally pulled up in front of Dale's house. The relief that lasted for about five seconds before worry came back on him. Sure he was at the house, but he hadn't seen Dale yet.

Gun in hand, he threw open the car door and raced up to the front door or the old house. The door lay wide open. Reno stopped and listened for a second, but heard nothing. On the front stoop were a couple of dark looking boot prints. He crouched down to examine them. A dark rust colour. Obviously blood. And thankfully at least a day old. Quietly he stepped in through the door and began a quick search of the house. The boot prints wore a direct route through the house toward one of the back bedrooms. Reno didn't head there straight away, he checked the rest of the house first just to be safe. Finally he followed the tracks.

Reno had seen a lot of shit in his time, and this one rated pretty high even though the body had been taken out almost twenty hours previous. It wasn't the worst though. Not by a long shot. Simply put, the room looked as though someone had hosed the bed and back wall down with red/brown paint. The small shabby double bed was soaked through with dry or drying blood, the back wall showed two crisscrossing messy lines that almost ran the whole length across. An interesting splatter pattern for terrorists that usually used guns. Apparently this time, somebody had felt a sword might have a better and more grisly impact.

They were right.

For this much blood to be splashed around, they most definitely would have used knives. Not all terrorists groups were like this. Some, if they asked a favour and were told no as Mr. Thiele had done, would back off with a simple threat for silence. Most were like that really. They found little pleasure in killing if it didn't hurt the company in some way. If they did, the human casualties were seen as casualties of war. Not much different in the grand scheme of things though. They were still killing people. At least those deaths were usually quick and painless. Whoever these guys were, they had enjoyed themselves a little too much for even Reno's tastes. And by making Mr. Thiele's death so grisly, they had managed to convey a very important point to the people of the slums;

'Don't fuck with us or we'll fuck with you.'

A scare tactic really. Turks even used them in different ways, and very very explicit.

Small movement off to Reno's left drew his attention. He swung his gun round in that direction before he had really focussed on what had made the noise. His gun arm dropped quickly when he did. It was Dale. He was huddled up in one corner of the room on the other side of the bed, knees drawn up to his chest making small sniffling noises. Until now he had been so quiet and still Reno hadn't even noticed him. Now relief flooded back over Reno. He tucked his gun away and crouched down in front of Dale.

"Dale?" Reno asked tentatively.

Dale raised his head fractionally to show Reno a tear streaked face and red-rimmed eyes.

"Where's daddy?"

Reno swallowed thickly. He was sure Dale understood at least some of what must have happened. More than likely though, he needed to hear it certainly off someone he knew.

"Your father," Reno began then stopped. He didn't know how to tell him. This wasn't part of Reno's job description. Reno was usually the killer, not the comforter. It was unsettling to be on the other side of things for once.

"He's dead isn't he?" Dale asked snuffling.

Reno nodded while Dale's head swivelled up to look at the mess left in his father's room. Reno could see him shiver slightly at the sight. He probably understood a little too well just what had happened.

"C'mon, let's go somewhere else."

"Where?" Dale asked plaintively.

"Home."

"I am home."

It was obvious what the boy was getting at. He had nowhere else to go, this was his home. Not only had the closest person in the world to him died, but he was now an orphan with no where else he had ever been able to call home.

_At least, _Reno thought decisively, _there may be one more place._

"You have another home now." Reno told him gently.

"Where?"

Reno smiled slightly. "My place."

Dale blinked at him a few times as if he couldn't believe what Reno was saying. When the information did sink in he uncurled himself from his position and threw himself at Reno, his small arms going around him as far as they would in a tight hug.

"You know," Reno began conversationally after the hug went well over the ten minute mark, "If you're coming to live with me you'll have to knock all this cheese off. I'm supposed to be a bad ass you know."

Dale reared back enough to look at his guardians face. "No." Dale told him quite clearly. "I'll give you hugs everyday even if you don't like it."

Reno snorted in amusement and picked the light boy up to carry him from the nightmarish room. "C'mon, let's get. I'll send someone down tomorrow to get the rest of your stuff."

"Wait! Put me down."

Reno did as bidden and watched Dale go over to the chest of drawers by his dad's bed. Opening the top draw he took out what looked like a small gold chain which he slipped over his head. After that he led Reno out of the room and into his own where he grabbed a small stuffed duck off his bed. Then he motioned to Reno that he was ready to leave.

"I told you we'd get your stuff tomorrow." Reno reminded.

"I know." Dale affirmed stopping by the loungeroom doorway. "The necklace was my mother's." He explained showing Reno the golden emblem of a Phoenix. "Daddy always kept it with him. He said it reminded him of her. He showed me where he kept it. And I wanted…" Dale's sentence tapered off here and Reno didn't prod him about it anymore. "What about the duck?"

Dale looked at the little duck in his hand for a moment before frowning up at Reno. "I like this duck."

At the front door, Dale took one more moment too look around him, seeming to know that this was the last time he'd see his home. He looked so sad standing just inside the doorway with his hand on the knob looking back into the old weathered house that Reno had to clench his jaw to stop the rising anger boiling within him. He vowed that whatever happened, he would /make/ Tseng bring him along on the manhunt for the terrorists. And he'd make them realise the pain they'd caused.

It didn't help that the rashness of his decision was just starting to sink in either. After the manhunt, he would have to put in for a transfer. Turk's hours were unpredictable, and the work, dangerous. If he was now going to be looking after a child he would need to be around for a long time and the usual Turk life expectancy didn't usually stretch to retirement age. Not that he would go back on his decision. He wanted Dale to stay with him. Even more shocking was the realisation that he /would/ give up his beloved job to look after the little guy. Didn't make the idea of a desk job any more appealing though. At the very least he could hope for a more active job. There was really no use worrying over it now though. His decision was made. And he was….actually happy about it.

"Dale." Reno spoke up trying to prompt the young boy into moving. He didn't like seeing Dale like that, and he didn't like hanging around here either for completely different reasons.

Eventually Dale nodded and stepped fully out the door, closing it gently behind him.

Reno turned his back and started making his way back toward the dark sedan parked on the road. Probably only fifty paces from the front door. In that short time he vaguely wondered what to do about the car once he got topside. Needless to say, Tseng was not going to be happy.

"Another day, another chance to piss him off." Reno muttered under his breath.

He got to the car and was about to open the door when he heard Dale's voice scream out, "RENO!"

Reno had his gun halfway out when something heavy impacted with the back of him forcing him against the side of the car. A hand grabbed his hair and roughly used it as leverage to bash his head into the car's roof. The quickness of the attack, coupled with the extreme force of that blow was almost enough to knock him senseless. His gun dropped from nerveless fingers to clatter onto the ground by his feet. His attacker didn't stop there though. A swift heavy punch to his ribs followed by another knock against the car's roof was all it took to send Reno into unconsciousness.

Dale watched in mute horror as two men beat Reno. Each hit sounded heavy and harsh and enough to make Dale wince every time. It wasn't long before Reno slumped to the curb though, unmoving. Seeing that made Dale squirm more in his captive's arms.

Not long after leaving the house, someone big had grabbed him from behind. He had only a few seconds to try and warn Reno, but it hadn't been enough.

The man carrying him just tightened his grip on the boy. Dale didn't stop though, he was hysterical, he /had/ to get to Reno.

"Lemme go asshole!"

A hand clamped down over his mouth after than, stopping Dale from continuing with the list of colourful and interesting words he'd learnt off his guardian. So Dale bit his hand. The man made a surprised yell and loosened his grip. Dale was able to wiggle free and make a break for it. Instead of running away though, Dale ran straight toward the unconscious man near the road. Two men stood over him, but Dale pushed them aside and fell down onto his knees next to the fallen Turk, tears running down his face. He buried his head in Reno's chest and held on, only afraid that someone might try to separate them again.

The other two men just looked at the little boy oddly for a while. It didn't look like Dale was going to try and run away, so they didn't bother to restrain him again.

"Who do you think he is?" One of them asked motioning toward Reno. "He had a gun."

"No uniform." The other put in. "Just because he got a gun, don't mean he's from Shinra. Most people carry guns nowadays. Look at the kid, bet he's an uncle or somefin'."

"We didn't get any orders about no uncle. We kill him, or turn him loose?"

"Boss wants impact. I say we leave 'im knocked out an' let 'im wake up near the boy's corpse. He won't be able to do nothing, he ain't seen us. Even if he does wake up, who cares? Take a look at that car of his. He's a plate man, ain't nothing he's gonna do to us. Boss might like someone 'round who'd be able to give all the gory details."

The third man came up beside them, his hand sporting a few trickles of blood around his fingers. "Little shit!" He stopped over Dale and roughly back-handed the boy across the head. Dale slumped down over Reno's chest.

* * *

_Notes: Nothing to really comment about. I find it hard to make comments if I haven't left a chapter on a good note. I'll just say look out for the next chapter 'cause it's gonna get rough._

_Snuffling badly_

_AF_


	3. Chapter 3

A Little Boy Called Dale

_By AF_

Chapter III

Regardless of what those men thought, Reno did awaken. A few times. Long enough to hear and see a little of what was happening from his position roughly thrown against the wall of the alleyway. Enough to hear and see what they were doing to Dale. Each time, Reno would yell at them, curse them, threaten them. Each time they would just knock him unconscious again. But they never hit him hard enough. He would always awaken again. Each time he heard the screams. The men's laughter. Their grunts. The boy's sobs. The boy's voice.

Each time Reno opened his eyes, he saw blood. His own blood was seeping into his eyes he knew, but he could see the other, ever-growing puddle of blood that he knew was not his own.

He wanted to tell Dale that it was okay, that somehow he'd get them out of this. But he knew he'd be lying. He could feel the bite of the rope around his wrists and ankles. The blood pouring freely down from a deep gash above his right eyebrow was making him dizzy. While he could talk all he wanted of escaping, he knew it would never happen. He was helpless. And there was not one fucking thing he could do about it.

Opening one eye, Reno cast a hazy glance toward the grunts and screams. Two men stood by the third. He couldn't see Dale, the third man was blocking his view as he leant over the boy. Somehow Reno felt relieved. He knew what the men were doing. He could hear the noises they made. Occasionally he could see the flash of a knife blade reflected off a distant street lamp as it descended the where he knew Dale must lay. And he could still hear the screams. The calls for help that Dale made. To his father….to Reno….

Suddenly Reno wanted it all to stop. Dale had been through enough. But the amount of terrible anguish that flooded through Reno every time he heard his name called, every time he heard a scream was beyond bearable.

_Please Dale, be silent. It'll only last a few more moments. Please, be quiet. Please!_

Suddenly, as if he got his wish, Dale did fall silent. No more screams, no more pleading. Just silence. Sweet beautiful silence. How he loved that silence at that moment. And how he hated himself for it.

The men moved away from Dale and back toward Reno. One of the guy's knives was sheathed in blood, as was most of his arm. He grinned down at Reno.

"Look who's awake."

Reno, half of his face covered in blood one eye open stared at them. The look was enough to make one of the men take a hesitant step back.

"I'll kill you all." Reno snarled.

The one with the knife didn't look impressed. "We leavin' 'im?"

The third man nodded and grinned. "That's the plan. I don't usually like to leave witnesses, but this'll do good for the 'cause. Knock him out 'n' cut him loose."

The man with the knife hit him harshly with the hilt.

* * *

He woke again later. The streets were still dark. It was hard to believe this was still the same night. Stretching slightly he found he was able to move his arms and legs and, as quickly as his woozy head would allow, pushed himself up into a sitting position against the wall behind him.

That was when he saw the body. It was difficult for a moment to recognize it for what it was. When he did though, he leant over from where he was sitting and threw up. Once he was finished he leant his head back against the cool stone behind him and tried to stop his head from spinning. In this position, he couldn't see the body either.

And so he sat in that position, trying to delay the inevitable. Trying to sort through everything tumbling around in his mind. It didn't work. He his eyes kept getting drawn back to the grisly sight of the body and his mind was only screaming one clear thing in amongst the pain.

_He's dead._

Numbly, Reno pulled himself over to the body and forced his eyes to look down at it properly. He wished he hadn't and quickly closed his eyes. It didn't matter, his mind now had a clear picture and all Reno could focus on was the blood over pale skin now marred by numerous cuts and slashes. The open unstaring eyes. They were so blue once. So filled with warmth and curiosity. Now they were covered in a film of blood marring them a ghastly red. Torn hair, bluish lips. The emblem of a Phoenix sitting in a pool of red that had collected in the slight hollow of his throat. He'd seen it all. And now he'd never forget it.

Opening his eyes once more, he reached over closed the boy's eyes gently with his fingertips. Taking off his shirt, he draped it over the boy to hide his naked skin, but not his face. Not yet. Stroking the boy's hair he reached into his back pocket, pulled his PHS out and dialed. It didn't take long to be answered.

"Tseng."

First time he tried to talk, he couldn't make his voice work. And when he finally did it was scratchy as if he were dying of thirst. Probably a result of his throwing up. Probably.

"I need a body retrieved. Lower Three a couple of blocks up from Mr. Thiele's I think. In the back of an alleyway."

Tseng was quiet for a moment, digesting the news.

"I'm sorry Reno. Are /you/ hurt?"

"No." He lied.

"Good. Stay there, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I won't be here when you get here. I recognize one of them. I know what group is responsible." His voice sounded dull, uncaring.

"Don't do anything stupid Reno. Wait for us."

Reno saw something laying on the concrete by his side. Half covered in blood, probably cast aside during the attack. He picked it up and looked it over. It was a small stuffed duck. "No."

"Damnit Reno! That was an order."

"Catch you later." Reno hung up, switched it off, and put the PHS down on the concrete beside him. He wouldn't be taking it. He didn't want the distraction.

Taking a deep calming breath, Reno made himself move. Bending over the inert form beside him, he gently brushed his cheek against the already cool forehead before pulling the shirt the rest of the way up and covering the face. When he straightened up, he saw that most of his chest was red now, not to mention his jeans where he'd been sitting on the concrete. He didn't care. It seemed fitting in a way. That he was somehow taking apart of Dale with him. On unsteady feet, he tucked the stuffed toy as far as it would go into the back pocket of his jeans and started for the mouth of the alley. As he passed the place where he'd been laying, he caught of something laying by the wall. The men, obviously not thinking he was much of a threat, had even left his gun. Minus the clip. But he could always get more. He picked it up and resumed his journey. As he reached the mouth of the alleyway, it began to rain.

* * *

The gun felt like a feather in his hand, like he was hardly holding it at all. His whole body was wired, tingling with the anticipation of the kill. Even the rain that sluiced off his lean body, clear water that ran pink after one touch of his skin of his bare torso, wasn't even registering in his clouded, hate filled mind. The rain washed the blood from his body, blood that was mostly not his own, but he didn't notice. To him he could still feel the sticky red liquid cover him, his chest, his hands, and his face. Everywhere. It was as if somehow that it meant /he/ was still with him. That way, /he/ would know what he had done for him. To avenge /him/. To let /him/ know that at least one person had cared about an otherwise insignificant part of the Midgar populous.

He knew what it was like to be one of the insignificant masses. A person that the rich folks up on the plate wouldn't spit on if he were on fire. Who wouldn't even pause walking if he were laying on the sidewalk covered in blood. Or maybe they would pause….perhaps only because he were clogging up the sidewalk.

_Is that how it was Tseng? Was I clogging up the sidewalk where you were walking? Is /that/ why you paused and offered me a hand? If you had simply passed me in the street I doubt I would have gotten a second look. But I meddled in your business, so it was either take me in or shoot me through the head. If you were a better man Tseng you would have taken out your gun and told me to kiss my ass goodbye. You can't save me from the experiences I've had, no matter how far your hand reaches. And I can't save myself, no matter how much a bleed. Until of course, I've bled my last drop._

_There is only one way to find out…._

He paused momentarily at the mouth of the alley and leant against the cool stone wall next to him, letting the chill soak through his body. An attempt to ease his mind. He couldn't think properly, he couldn't breath properly. His eyes kept wandering back to that spot, now clouded in the darkest shadows of the night. The spot where /he/ lay. He couldn't feel remorse for /him/ or himself. Not yet. Later, when the blood that covers my body will not only be /his/. When those fucks had paid for what they had done. Then he would allow himself the guilt. The knowledge that, yet again, he had failed.

_I won't fail this time. I won't let them get away with this!_

None too gently he smacked his head against the cold stone he was leaning against. The pain helped. The warm trickle down his neck helped. It bought with it that small amount of reasoning he knew he would need, but again not too much to tell him what he was planning to do was not the smartest choice. He didn't need that reasoning. He needed to think, to plot, but to keep the anger there. It would serve him when he cut out their hearts and nailed them to their own fucking coffee tables…

Again he smacked his head, again he felt the pain.

He was ready.

With one last, brief look down the alleyway, he stepped out into the street and back under the silver glow of the streetlamps, intent on his first destination.

While he walked, he remembered. He needed to keep the memories in his head. He needed to feed that anger. After all, for some, this was going to be a very long night.

* * *

"Get off it Terry, You don't know shit all about it."

Terry leant back on the dank smelling sofa and put his feet up on the small table in front, never taking his eyes off the flickering image on the television screen.

"Sure I do." He protested confidently. "It'll be on the news, you just watch."

Sam watched his friends face's dubiously for a moment. Both were reclined on the small three seater sofa, beers resting on the coffee table by their feet. Relaxed. Watching the television that had long ago lost its audio capabilities, casually awaiting any news regarding the nights events. Sam stood slightly behind the sofa, uncertain. Terry, playing with his ever-present knife, had been positive that they would see /some/ feedback on the news about the boy. Faulton wasn't so sure. Sam didn't care. It had been his first major job tonight with this group. And so far he hadn't been too proud of his efforts. It had been going fine (even after realizing just who it was they were meant to kill) until it had came time to do it. Oh, he hadn't /not/ gone through with it. Hadn't even hesitated. He'd just made his brain understand that if he wanted to keep himself fed, this is what it took. It had worked. Kind of. In fact his first hesitation hadn't come till later when they were deciding what to do with the man. That look in his eyes had made him pull up short.

He couldn't allow himself to think about it. Regret decisions. This is what happened in this world. It was survival of the fittest at its most nasty and desperate. All it had come down to was Sam and the two veterans of the organization had proved the fitter, therefore the ones to survive. Didn't help Sam from feeling a little sick at what he'd done. It wouldn't stop that little boy's voice from echoing in his head. But it would allow him to take his money, payment for services rendered, and feed himself for at least another month. He didn't regret. He just wished he hadn't been put in the position at all.

Terry and Faulton weren't helping either. They /wanted/ it to happen, and they both would do it ten times over if they thought it would help the cause. They were true believers in the cause to rid the world of Shinra, whereas Sam was a mercenary, purely there for the money. It didn't make him any better. In most ways it made him worse. He didn't even have a cause to drive him to do these things. These two men did.

Twenty more minutes passed and Terry began to get irritated. "What's with the news stations in this city! Even if the boy was a nobody, we still beat the snot outta a plate man. That's gotta be something!"

"Told ya it won't be on." Faulton reminded, "Shinra were watchin' 'im up until we got th' fatha. They always clean this shit up. Don' worry, th' boss'll have it all ova th' slums 'fore 'morrow night. Chill man th' little shit'll serve his purpose."

Sam frowned at his companions for a while after this statement. Sure he didn't regret what happened. He still felt shitty though. Especially why it had all happened. He didn't like the idea that a group of people could somehow see ending a little boy's life in the most gruesome way Sam could think of as 'serving his purpose.' He'd stayed numb while these two had taken to the boy's small frail body. He'd helped in taking the life, but there were certain things that Sam couldn't be bribed into doing, no matter the hefty pay packet. Still, he' watched the entire thing without batting so much as an eyelash. Morals made him stay back from most of the carnage, greed had made him keep quiet. Again, he felt that made him worse.

"I've gotta take a piss." Sam mumbled. He turned and made his way out of the small room and down the hallway of the house where he and his companions were laying low. He turned off the hall and entered the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. For a while he just stood at the basin and watched the water drip out of the tap in front of him with a kind of detached fascination. He didn't know how long he stood there, or why he was even standing there watching slightly brown water drip out of a leaky faucet, it was just better than being out in the main room with the others. Eventually he raised his eyes to gaze into the mirror above the sink. The mirror had been broken ages ago. It still clung to the wall, but was broken into several different pieces giving Sam a very fragmented view of himself.

_"Please no, please…" _Over and over again. It was all he heard. And from experience, he knew it was all he'd ever hear for the next few nights.

At least….

Sam's concentration was broken, his head turning slowly back in the direction from where he had come. He stared at the closed door as if he could see through it. Up until now he had been able to hear Terry and Faulton arguing in the next room. Now he could make out nothing. Perhaps they had just stopped arguing. Perhaps they had decided to at least lower their voices. While the walls were thin, Sam doubted he could have heard them from all the way back up the hall had they been whispering. But instincts, that had managed to keep him alive for this long, told him that this wasn't the case.

Curious, and a little edgy, Sam crept over to the door and eased it open. As he did so it creaked alarmingly loud. At least that's how it sounded in such intense silence. Willing himself to move quietly, he sneaked down the hall. The house wasn't fabulously lighted, it hadn't been when they'd come here, and his companions telling him it was a safe house. Safe house or not, all had insisted on keeping most of the lights extinguished on the off chance that Shinra or anyone else might be looking for them. The light from the bathroom was still on behind him, but from the room at the end of the hall, the room he'd left the others in, had only been illuminated by the flickering, soundless T.V. He could see the glare of it, casting it's iridescent light onto the back wall of the room, the wall he could see leading into the hall. Something was off about the color though. It wasn't till he got a little closer to it, did he realize exactly what.

Stepping into the room he had a clear view of the back of the couch, the television was facing him on the other side of it. The room was bathed in a red light from the television. And the room was deathly silent. Sam had to exert all his will not to gasp at the horrid color that was the only source of light in the room. A thick film of red almost covered the screen of the otherwise black and white set. The source of the ghastly light.

He stood there numbly for a few moments, unable to comprehend what had happened. What was wrong with the screen? Had Larry and Faulton left him here?

No, he could see the top Faulton's head above the back of the sofa, sitting exactly where he had left him sitting. Larry was too short, but Sam had to assume he was still there. After peering anxiously around the room, he crept closer to the couch and around its side to get a better look at his comrades.

"Faulton? What up with the…" The words died on his lips as he rounded the couch. Faulton and Larry were sitting where they had been, but he suddenly understood what had happened to the television. It was their blood across the screen. The blood must have sprayed across the small space between the couch and the screen. As near as Sam could tell in the gently flickering light, both Larry and Faulton had been gutted. Slit, from sternum to crotch. And the cut ran very deep. Enough to make enough blood and other unidentifiable things spill out over the front of the bodies and onto the floor in front of them. Faulton's head rested against the back of the couch, throat slit, but not too deeply. Enough to stop them from perhaps calling out, but not enough to kill them before receiving the other grisly wounds.

A further thought occurred to him then. There was little to no way their attacker could have made them sit calmly on the couch while doing this to them. Somehow they had both been overpowered and set back on the couch, ready for when Sam returned from the bathroom where he'd spent gods knew how long staring into the fractured mirror.

Another test of his willpower not to cry out, this time he didn't win the internal battle. The overhead light flicked on.

"It's art doncha think? Part of the new Turk collection. I'm thinking of calling it 'A promise fulfilled'. Catchy huh?"

Sam didn't have to look far to locate the voice, it was right in front of him. He had been sitting, perched cross-legged on top of the counter behind the television. The darkness behind the television had masked his presence until he had reached up to the light switch by the door, not far from where he was sitting. It didn't take Sam long to recognize him. It was the supposed uncle they had left for dead in the alleyway. For a moment Sam couldn't move. Couldn't think. And for the first time in a very long time, Sam was very afraid.

The red-headed man kept removed his hand from the light switch and rested it easily on his left knee. His right elbow bent resting on his leg, wrist supporting his chin, knife in his right fist. He was shirtless, /not/ how they'd left him, and almost totally sheathed in blood. He looked at Sam with a cold stare with teal eyes that seemed to burn with an inner malicious light of their own. Finally he found his voice.

"Tur-Turk?"

"I must apologize for not wearing my uniform earlier." He said flatly. "My name is Reno you may have heard of me."

Sam's jaw went slack. He'd heard the name. He'd not seen this man before, apparently he was still new to the organization. But he knew that name.

He turned to run. Reno's hand whipped out and he went to boost himself off the counter and the light flicked off bathing the room once again in the horrifying red light of the television screen.

* * *

He started as a shrill sound cut into the silence of the bedroom. Awakened by the loud annoying noise, he grumbled and rolled over in his bed intent on telling whoever it was that was ringing him at this hour what he would have done to them as soon as dawn broke. Pushing one hand out from beneath the warmth of the blankets, he cursed the cold air and picked up the receiver.

"Someone betta be dying." He said upon answering.

"They're dead!" Replied a close to hysterical voice. "He says he'll kill me next!"

Now fully awake, the man sat up in his bed, ignored the groans of protest beside him and flipped on his bedside lamp. "Who's dead?"

"Terry and Faulton. He said he's only keeping me alive to warn you. Then he'll kill me too!"

"Who'll kill you?"

"A Turk. We didn't know it was a Turk. He saw the whole thing with that little boy. He says he wants you to know he's coming. Says he wants you to be afraid."

The man frowned. It wasn't that he didn't understand what the man was telling him. Mainly that his still partially sleep hazy mind wouldn't take it all in.

"Where are you?" He asked finally, surprised to hear that his voice was shaking slightly.

The person on the other end went to reply but was suddenly cut off. A gurgling muffled half scream was all that sounded over the phone. But despite the grisly sound, he found he still sat there stock still with his ear still to the phone. He heard a few sounds indicating the other phone was being moved around. Suddenly his ear was filled with the sound of someone breathing. Someone alive. He was past thinking that who he had been talking to was still alive. This was someone else.

"W-who are y-you?" He managed. He was vaguely angry at himself for sounding so weak, but it was hardly something that could be helped. Sam said this man was a Turk? Not even Turks did this. And most definitely not on their own. Though he could think of few other singular men who could have handled two of his best muscle men. But there must be something very off in this Turk. Something very /wrong/.

He didn't know whether he really expected an answer. But he didn't get one. The other end clicked and the line went dead.

For a long time he sat there, still frozen with the phone to his ear. It was ludicrous to be afraid. Turk or no. Even if Sam or one of the others had told the Turk who he was, it didn't mean he was in danger. His house had at least three sentries at all times. It was more likely that the Turk just wanted to scare him. They did that. Used scare tactics as well as any terrorist group in the slums. Well, so he had heard.

All he ought to really do was lay down and go back to sleep.

Dropping the phone back into its cradle he got to his feet and grabbed his robe.

_Won't hurt to check on the sentries._

* * *

Reno bent down and wiped the blood absently off the blade. It didn't really work though. The cloth he was using was just as bloodied as the blade. Shrugging, he tucked the blade back into his belt and crouched down. The room was almost pitch black, with little lights coming in off the streets through a gap in the curtains. It was better this way. Training had taught him to see as much with his ears as his eyes. And besides, thanks to subtle mako enhancements, he could see well enough if everything but total blackness. Only a few dim smudges of furniture and doorways, but enough.

Next to him on the floor rested the phone he had used not two minutes earlier. Reaching around to the cord behind the phone, he yanked at the cord till it came free of it's mooring in the wall. That done, he just continued to crouch and listen. The air around him smelt thick with the smell of fresh blood but he ignored it. He was almost used to it by now. He'd been smelling it all night constantly and wondered if he'd ever be able to smell anything different ever again. The dim shapes of three largish shapes in the far end of the room over by the door, and the one lying next to him. They all smelt heavily of it. But then again, so did he. But it was worth the extra effort. There was no way this man would ever believe that he had been calling from another room in his house, the task made easier by separate telephone lines. He vaguely wondered why he'd bothered to ring at all. It had been easy to get the mercenary to tell him who had hired him. It would have been a much simpler task to go upstairs and slit the man's throat while he slept. But for some reason, Reno had wanted to draw it out. To make the man afraid for as long as possible. To make him fear for his life as much as those he threatened. He had even given some thought into drawing it out longer. Over several days if needs be. But he didn't. If he didn't do this now, tonight, while the memories were still fresh, he might end up losing his nerve completely otherwise. The sentries had hardly been a problem. Two had been asleep, one had been listening to his walkman with his back to the door. He was satisfied to see that some things never changed in the slums. While you could always buy men, it was a harder feat to buy their undying loyalty. They had died quick and relatively painless deaths while the mercenary had been killed over the phone for effect. But his real quarry was upstairs. Odd that there were even two story houses left in the slums anymore. Obviously this guy had been doing well for himself. Had been.

Finally he heard it. Soft footfalls on the stairs. No lights came on. Reno hadn't bothered cutting the power or anything like that, playing with mako power was not what he had in mind. Besides, he knew he'd eventually want light to see by while he worked. The man on the stairs was being wary by not turning any on. Even trying to tread lightly on the stairs. Not lightly enough though. Reno could hear him well enough and began to judge how much time it would take him to reach the man at the foot of the stairs when he discovered the bodies. The front door was locked, but not permanently. A twist of the lock would see it open, but Reno judged he'd make it to his prey before he got that far. Most people in a panic don't tend to think of little obstacles like door locks.

Reno heard him reach the bottom of the stairway followed by a loud startled gasp. He moved from his position just as his victim reached over to the wall by the door and snapped on the light switch. The sudden light made Reno blink, but he didn't stop striding toward his target. He didn't bother with trying to remain quiet either. /Now/ he wanted to be seen. The man did hear him and spun around, his face twisted in shock, his mouth hanging open. The open mouth went to scream but Reno cut him off before it could be voiced with a heavy punch that napped the man's mouth closed again. It didn't knock him out, but it threw him up against the wall behind him. He began to slide down it, but Reno roughly grabbed the collar of the man's robe and hauled him back onto his feet against the wall. His eyes were still open, staring at Reno.

"I know you."

"Not surprising Whitley." Reno answered calmly. He saw Whitley's eyes flicker over to one of the sentries guns that lay still near one of the bodies as if he could somehow will the weapon into his hand. Reno himself had already relieved one of the sentries of their gun, but he was reluctant to use it. For once, a gun didn't quite have the effect he wanted. He was happy enough to keep the knife he'd taken earlier in the night that scrawny guy. The one that had been used on Dale.

"What do you want?" The question came out almost pleading.

"What will you give me?"

"A-anything!"

"Anything?" Reno pretended to think this over. He it was only for show, and any calmer person could have seen that he wasn't really giving the proposal any serious thought. That he was only drawing it out to give hope to the hopeless. Much harsher to give a man hope then take it utterly away than give him no hope at all. "Money."

A small amount of surprise showed through Whitley's features at this. "O-of course! All I have!"

"Will you really give me anything to save your life?"

"Y-yes!" Whitley choked.

Reno gave him a cruel smile that spoke nothing of amusement. "Give me money. Give me what little power you think you have. Give me the lives of your men, and any others you can offer. You would give me all this?"

Whitley nodded, but it was apparent that he didn't understand totally what Reno was getting at, but it was just as clear that he would grasp at anything at the moment. "Yes. Anything."

"Tell me you're sorry. Tell him you are sorry.

_Dale put on the glasses that were way too big for him, covering the red swollen eyes beneath._

_Reno allowed a small snigger at the sight of Dale wearing his glasses together with the milk moustache and unruly sleep mussed hair._

_Seeing Reno's amusement Dale smiled as well._

_Reno was glad to see the smile._

"Bring him back." Reno said just above a whisper.

With no mention of who 'he' was, Whitley didn't seem at first to comprehend. "What? Who?" Then he remembered what this had all been about to begin with. "That little boy?" He asked. His eyes widened, "But, I-I can't! He's dead! I-I can't! That's impossible!"

The inevitable answer. The answer Reno had been waiting for.

_Of course it's impossible. _"But that's all I want."

If it was at all possible, Whitley's eyes widened even more when he realized that there was going to be no talking his way out of it. The realization that he was going to die, as surely in his mind as on the face of the man in front of him.

"No." He moaned sagging against the hand that held him up.

"Yes."

Reno grabbed his collar and hauled him off the wall, tossing him roughly in the direction of the room with the heavy smell of blood. Grim determination etched on his face.

"Yes."

* * *

When he had first begun trailing Reno, Tseng had assumed that the path would be hard to follow. All too often he'd been reminded of his subordinate's abilities to disappear when he wanted to, and stay lost when he didn't want to be found. But the path of destruction Reno had carved over half of Midgar was hard to hide. Even more surprising was the attraction it had gotten of many Midgar authorities. The police mainly, a force that kept away from the slums usually with as much want as most dwelling on the Plates. But it was they who alerted Tseng to the safe house (Unknowingly over Tseng's scanner) and from there Tseng was able to piece together what Reno had only maybe an hour previously. Even after seeing the body of the little boy, Tseng was surprised at the carnage he found at the safe house. But he had little doubt as to who was responsible. This was a known safe house to the Turks for a band of terrorists under leadership of a man named Whitley. A man who almost commanded enough respect and fear in the slums as Don Corneo. And a man with just about as many morals. It hardly surprised him that such a man would order a hit on a child just to make a point.

Again though, he was at least an hour behind. Reno had obviously already come and gone. The usually sturdy police captain shifted nervously beside him as they stood in the living room looking over the bodies of the dead. Tseng wouldn't breath a word to the police who had done this of course. But the captain seemed happy enough that Tseng labeled the murders 'Shinra business' therefore taking the burden off him. To let the Shinra sort it out. It was enough of a common occurrence in Midgar that the captain didn't question it once.

Five bodies in all. Most easy enough to look at. The fifth looked as though he had been beaten roughly before being cut up. The man's face and chest was a mess of red pulp. His chest more so.

The fidgety captain frowned at the body on the floor by the dining table then to something a little closer.

"What the fuck is that?" He asked curiously.

Tseng flicked his eyes off the corpse and the blood stains covering the table to where the captain was gesturing. In the center of the coffee table in front of the couch, a knife stood upright pinning something red, bloody and fleshy beneath it.

"It's his heart." Tseng replied coolly.

The captain blanched slightly, but Tseng had other things to attend to now. After calling the scene in, and taking only a few moments to absorbed all that had happened and how it must have gone done, Tseng left.

Despite Reno's motivation, despite knowing that Tseng agreed with Reno that the bastards had to pay, Tseng could not abide what had happened. For the first time, the first real time, Tseng found himself regretting a lot about Reno. One thing was for sure, they had to have an important talk.

* * *

_'Reno!"_

It felt better to be home. He hadn't known exactly what to do with himself after leaving Whitley's. He could have kept going, or he could quit. He had quit. He felt drained and tired. He couldn't have cared whether he came home or threw himself off a bridge at that point. But he'd seen enough of death that night. And the smell of blood had gotten to him.

_"Reno!"_

Even after his shower, he could still smell it. On his skin, up his nose. He'd almost scrubbed his skin raw trying to get the smell to come off. Nothing had worked. And his ears rung with shouts and screams so noisy he felt as though his head would split open. Over the din though, one quiet voice was still with him.

_Please Dale, be silent. It'll only last a few more moments. Please, be quiet. Please!_

Two aspirin swallowed with whisky took care of most of the noise in his head. But not that small soft voice. Taking his glass into the lounge room he went and stood by the glass doors that led out onto his balcony and looked out over the city. Small lights glinted in amongst the dark buildings. Stars within blackness. His hand tightened on the glass in his hand. Tight enough to made the thin glass shatter in his hand. It bit into his hand and wrist without him taking his eyes off the window. The fresh smell of his blood reached his nostrils.

_"Pretty."_

_"Not pretty Dale. Those aren't natural clouds."_

_"Pretty…Look."_

_"I've seen it Dale."_

_"No…Look proply. Everything's moving and glowing. Shiny. Doncha see it Reno?"_

_"I see it."_

He saw it through new eyes, the way he imaged a young boy who knew no better could see it.

"I see it."

Nothing overtly malicious. Nothing exceptionally dangerous. At least not all of it. Not that he could see. Not the way Dale saw it. At least not all of it. Not yet.

The blood ran down over his wrist in a steady stream. It didn't look as though it would let up soon. He must have cut the veins in his wrist. The shattered glass fell from his fingers, just as unnoticed.

_"I see it."_

"But for how long?"

The End.

* * *

_Notes; This part was a little hard to write. And I can't say I really enjoyed it much. Poor little Dale. For those of you who are curious, Reno doesn't die of blood loss. Rufus comes over to talk to him and finds him exactly how you left him. I didn't put it in because I didn't think it necessary. Best left where it was. There are quite a few things I left out actually. The gory scenes mostly plus a few moments with Tseng I omitted in favor of more plot. Hardly a tasteful story, but I tried to give it as much feeling without gore as I possibly could._

_For those following 'monsters'….now that I have finished writing Dale, I can get on with posting the new part III. At least now you have more insight into Reno's bad life and his insanity. Oh and yes godamnit! The duck was in there for a reason! It wasn't a prop I forgot about. Oh and bear in mind, this isn't the only thing that contributed to Reno's insane behavior, just one of the many, but by far the most important._

_*Sniffles* buh-bye Dale._

_AF_


End file.
